The UK-based independent label, Classic Pictures Entertainment, makes hard rock fan’s dreams comes true. What is it that they do so well that most other companies don’t even bother to do? First, they fully remaster the picture quality and restore the psychedelic colors and imagery of the archive footage used for their releases. Then they completely remaster the scratchy mono audio elements into powerful DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks. The result is eye-popping classic performances of some of rock’s best musicians (Rick Wakeman, Jack Bruce, Edgar Winter) and heaviest bands (Alice Cooper, Motorhead, ELP) that replicate the live experience of these stellar rock legends. Let’s examine Classic Pictures Entertainment’s DEEP PURPLE DVD EP, which captures the band at their peak, and showcases the talents of Ian Gillian-vocals, Roger Glover-bass, Jon Lord-keyboards, Ian Paice-drums, and egomaniac guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. The performances on this DVD are culled from old Beat Club TV appearances, Europe’s most famous Rock n Roll TV show (long before MTV was ever heard of). For comparison’s sake, both Pioneer Video and Rhino Home Video have released classic Beat Club performances of famous rock musicians on DVD in recent years. Though one can marvel at these Beat Club performances of yesteryear, the VHS quality and distorted mono sound have left much to be desired. Classic Pictures Entertainment aims to change all that. The DEEP PURPLE DVD EP is a Region 2 PAL disc and is priced accordingly as a true ‘EP’ should be.

The DEEP PURPLE DVD EP contains three rare performances from the Beat Club era. For their first song, DEEP PURPLE dives right into their greatest hit of all time, Highway Star, from their classic platter, MACHINEHEAD. Then the band performs a mesmerizing, moody version of Hallelujah, a song so rare it doesn’t appear on any of their albums! Finally, DEEP PURPLE do a killer version of No, No, No, from their awesome album, FIREBALL. All three live performances are from the DEEP PURPLE’s 1969-70 era, and feature the requisite post-modern rock star clothing, facial hair, and psychedelic flair so essential to the genre (with No, No, No, being the most colorful and far-out interpretations on this disc). As noted, Classic Pictures Entertainment completely re-masters the video quality, removing the scratches, dirt, and snow that tend to plague aging videotape sources of this era. The color is completely re-saturated highlighting the psychedelic visuals that accompany each performance. The black levels are similarly tweaked, making for perfect shadow detail to the picture. Basically, the 30 year old performances look brand new. Classic Pictures Entertainment also spent some time and effort to remaster these performances into Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 sound. The original mono sound elements are enhanced to the point that the sound tracks match the current 5.1 audio standards. Both sound tracks are equally clear and concise, with the DTS track getting the edge in ambiance and bass (check out Glover’s magnificent bass playing and Pace’s drumming to verify this). The DTS track also gets thumbs up for clearer and undistorted delivery of vocal god Ian Gillan’s singing. If the Dolby Digital track has anything superior than the DTS, its that Blackmore’s guitar solos sound a bit heavier.

This disc contains several entertaining extras. From the Special Features menu, you can enable the Popup feature, which allows you to watch the songs with text-based DEEP PURPLE facts and trivia information onscreen. There are several trailers for other Classic Pictures Entertainment DVDs. These two-minute trailers consist of concert footage and music in DTS & DD 5.1 sound:

• MOTORHEAD -Ace of Spades
• ALICE COOPER - Under My Wheels
• THE WHO - Pinball Wizard
• MEATLOAF - Paradise by the Dashboard Light
• JOE COCKER- I Get By
• ROD STEWART - Tonight’s the Night

The disc also features a section called DVD JukeBox, which showcases a bunch of Classic Pictures Entertainment artists doing their thing on stage. These abbreviated performances are presented in 5.1 sound formats. Here is the line-up:

• BLACK SABBATH/BLUE OYSTER CULT - Heaven & Hell/Born to Be Wild
• EMERSON, LAKE, & PALMER - Gnome
• PROCOL HAREM - Whiter Shade of Pale
• WISHBONE ASH - Can’t Fight Love
• JACK BRUCE - Sunshine of Your Love
• RICK WAKEMAN - Reprise From the Forest
• LEON RUSSEL - Delta Lady
• JAMES BARCLAY HARVEST - Mockingbird
• BIG COUNTRY - In a Big Country

Classic Pictures Entertainment has done some remarkable work here that is sure to please anyone who appreciates great musicianship. This company digs up old footage from the Rock archives and makes it look like new again. The one problem with these budget DVD EPs is that they leave you wanting more. There’s a lot of room on DVD for more clips or music, and Classic Pictures Entertainment should put some more songs on their discs. I wish someone in Region 1 would put the time and effort into their classic Rock performance DVDs.

THE DEEP PURPLE SPECIAL EDITION EP is available from DVDEmpire.com